SAO - The Angel of Death
by ShadowHighlord
Summary: Welcome to Sword Art Online, where the pain dampeners have been removed. Join Archangel, an American Beta and his struggles in order to survive. Along the way, his dark past comes back to haunt him; the ghosts of his past are embodied into his beautiful and talented female partner. Will he run away from the woman he loves or will he faces his fears for a chance at salvation?
1. Chapter 1

It has been a month since the death-game had begun, and we still haven't even found the boss room. Back when I was in the beta, we had managed to reach the fourth floor within the same amount of time. But yet again, everyone is taking the death-aspect of the game very seriously and therefore we have not gotten much progress due to the constant fear of dying. Already, we have lost around two thousand players, and those numbers keep rising, and it's been affecting our moral drastically, and not in a good way.

Even I had fallen into despair a week ago. I locked myself into an inn room for 48 hours, refusing to go out and face the world full of death, but then suddenly I got a massive drive to fight and my mentality had instantly changed, telling me to do more than survive, I had to grab the game by the balls, take charge of my own fate, and kick the shit out of some AI ass. I explored the labyrinth and didn't get out of there for four entire days without rest. In that time, I had reduced the durability of three full sets of armor and five swords to zero. I was at least smart enough to not use my current above-average equipment, only store-bought items; sure, it was a risky gamble, but it payed off and I raised my level to 16 already.

Luckily, we finally had gotten the first good news in a long time. Yesterday, I had received a message stating there is a meeting at the amphitheatre in-town concerning the first floor boss.

Finally, we were getting somewhere.

I show up at the amphitheatre a good ten minutes before the scheduled meeting time, hoping that the other players attending the meeting would simply glance at me and then return talking to their friends. The last thing I want to do is to cause trouble, especially at a crucial moment like this.

A few minutes later, the amphitheatre held approximately 30 players, including myself. One guy dressed in blue with a sword and shield stood on the stage and clapped his hands, getting our attention.

"Okay, let's get started people!" The odd players who weren't sitting down yet had taken the liberty to do so.

"Thank you for coming today. My name is Diabel. I like to consider my "job" as Knight," he says, pumping his fist into his chest. A dozen or so players start laughing, quickly followed by the rest.

"There's no job system in this game!" yells a guy from the first row; I had purposefully chosen a seat at the very last row.

"A knight? Shouldn't you take this more seriously?" chirps another player. Diabel suddenly got very serious and the crowd got silent.

"Our party found the boss room at the top of the tower." He states, receiving gasps of shock from the crowd. "We need to defeat the boss, reach the second floor, and tell everyone waiting in the Town of Beginnings that it is possible to beat this game. Everyone present here shares this duty! Do you all agree?" I've got to admit, this Diabel guy sure knows how to talk to crowds without breaking a sweat. I notice the other players murmuring amongst themselves for a few moments before they all started clapping and cheering, indicating they all agreed with his big speech.

"Alright, then let us begin our planning. First, divide into parties of six," says Diabel. I instantly slump my shoulders and I groan. Well shit… I should have known this would have happened. Curiously, a black haired player in blue armor in front of me had the same reaction as I did. He looks around the amphitheatre, hoping to find some spare party members. He shuffles down a few meters, now sitting beside a female player in a brownish-red cloak, another female player joins the two, this one without a cloak. I sigh as I get up and join the trio, hoping they're willing to let a guy like me join them.

"You got left out too?" says the black haired player to the cloaked female player.

"I wasn't left out. I just stayed out of it because everyone seemed to know each other already," she answers calmly.

"A solo player? Then do you want to form a party with me? You're more than welcome to join too," he says to both girls. They hesitate for a second, before nodding in approval.

"Mind if I join as well?" I ask, sitting down near the group. The male player sends us all party invites, and we all accept them. Three new HP bars appear under my own, along with their names.

Kirito, which I know is the male since I recognize the name from the beta-test, an old Japanese friend of mine that I had met during the beta. His weapon is a one-handed straight sword, just like me.

Asuna, the girl wearing the cloak, also Japanese. It looks like her weapon is a rapier.

Kitiara, an American-looking girl with long flowing black hair and a large two-handed sword strapped along her back.

I hear Kirito gasp when the party was formed; I guess he recognized my name as well. I swiftly swipe my hand downwards, summon the Character GUI, and write a private message to Kirito. He receives it a few seconds later and nods. The last thing I want is for the two girls, or the other boss-raid members, to know we were beta-testers and make a big deal out of it. I know most beta-testers disappeared and stole all the easy XP and money, leaving the newcomers with nothing, but I also know that Kirito and I aren't like the rest of the betas; we're here, fighting in the front lines with everyone else.

Diabel caught our attention once more, "Alright, have you formed your parties? Then…"

"Just a second!" yells an unknown player, completely interrupting Diabel. I turn to the back of the amphitheatre to see the silhouette of a man, he runs down the flight of stairs, leaping about halfway down and lands near Diabel, pivoting around to face the crowd.

"The name's Kibaou. I wanna say something before we take on the boss." Kirito and I lean forward, interested in what this man has to say.

"Some of you here need to apologize to the two thousand who have died so far!" he yells as he points an accusing finger towards the crowd. Great, Kirito and I will have to lay low and try to avoid this man.

"Kibaou, are you referring to the beta-testers?" asks Diabel, Kibaou instantly fumes with rage, "Of course I am! On the day this stupid game started, the beta guys ditched us beginners, and they all disappeared. They took all the good hunting spots and easy quests for themselves, so only they could get stronger. And then, they just ignored the rest of us." His face forms a scowl as he shakes his fist at the crowd.

"I'm sure someone here was in the beta! They should get on their knees and apologize, and give up all the items and money they've hoarded. Otherwise, we can't trust them to protect us as party members, and they shouldn't trust us," Kibaou continued his little speech, more of a childish rant if you ask me. I let out a low growl, there's no way in hell I'll ever bow down to a guy like him, I'd rather punch the crap out of this little shit until my cursor changes to orange, but like I said - I'm not here to cause any trouble. Unfortunately, Kirito is having a harder time ignoring Kibaou, as I can see him shaking and struggling with himself. I gently place my hand on his shoulder, hoping it would be enough to remind him that he is not alone out here.

It was easy enough for me to remain calm; I was hiding behind a mask that covered my entire face. The mask itself consisted of two parts, I could only describe the lower part as a piece of spandex that outlined my jaw and covered my face all the way up to my nose. The upper part of the mask is a black metallic plate that somewhat looks like face of a hawk or eagle, as the nose slightly extended outwards, following the structure of my nose, there are two concaves around my eyes and there is a crimson-red glowing orb in the middle of each, representing my eyes. The mask has no stat bonuses or durability, it is purely a cosmetic item I had received when I logged on, saying it was a gift for being on the beta. I was sceptical about getting the cosmetic item at first, but then after Kayaba Akihiko had reverted us back to our original image, I had immediately chosen the mask to hide my face. I wear the mask to hide the true sight of my face, which is covered in scars and burn marks. I guess I just don't want people running away in disgust at the hideousness of my face, nor get stereotyped as being a criminal just because I look like I could be one.

"May I speak?" asks a big bald African-American as he stands up and walks up to Kibaou, towering him by at least an entire foot, Kibaou is definitely intimidated by this guy.

"My name is Egil. Kibaou, tell me if I have this right. You're saying that because the beta-testers didn't take care of them, many beginners died. That they should take responsibility, apologize, and provide compensation. Correct?"

"Y-Yeah! That's exactly what I'm trying to say!" he fumes back, losing all fear he had a second ago. Egil reaches into his pocket and pulls out a little brown book, showing it to the crowd and especially to Kibaou. A smile from ear to ear forms on my face as I instantly know what Egil is going to do and say, "So that's what Argo's little project was…" I whisper to Kirito, who could only nod in acknowledgment.

"You got this guide book, didn't you?" continues Egil, "it was provided for free at the item store,"

"Sure I did. Why?" answers a nervous Kibaou. "It was compiled from information given by the beta-testers." Explains Egil, this got the crowd whispering amongst themselves in disbelief, a new scowl forms on Kibaou's face as he now knows that his speech from a few minutes ago will go unheard. Egil turns to the crowd and flashes them the guide book.

"Listen! Everyone had equal access to this information. And even still, many players died. I thought the topic of discussion here was that we could learn from their deaths, and how that can help us defeat the boss." Kirito lets out a long sigh of relief as Kibaou sits down on the first row, crosses his arms, and pouts like a spoiled brat who didn't get what he wants.

I mainly tuned out the rest of the meeting, but from what I can recall, we looked over the boss' name, Illfang the Kobold Lord, his guardians, the Ruin Kobold Sentinels, the terms for EXP and item sharing, and finally the meeting time of 10am tomorrow morning. Now that the meeting was done, everyone went back to whatever they were doing before, some left for various reasons, and some crowded around Diabel, Kibaou, and Egil. I notice that Asuna silently stands up and starts to leave, followed by Kirito – I'll leave her in his care. I turn to Kitiara, only to find her staring at me intently, an investigative look on her face.

"So, Kitiara, where's Skie and the Dragonarmy?" I ask. The response I get is her laughing so hard that she almost loses her balance and nearly topples down the flight of seats, quickly followed by a squeal of panic; she would have fallen had I not dashed forward and caught her arm just above her elbow. She mutters a quiet "thanks" as I help her back to her seat. "So, what the hell was that reaction for?" I ask, surely my ice-breaking joke couldn't have been that funny.

"I'm sorry… it's just that you're the first person to recognize my name in the month we've been stuck in this game," she answers as I listen to her voice very carefully, I have to admit that's it's very beautiful; even so while having fear and anger oozing out of it.

"It really is a shame that many people don't know some of the older classics of fantasy novels… but I'm not too surprised as we are playing on the Japanese server, and they don't have access to some of our works," I respond as a certain shine appears in her eyes.

"You're American?" I could only nod in acknowledgment. I'm actually Canadian, but I'll let the mistake slide; there's not much of a difference nowadays. "Thank god, I wasn't sure I would run into anyone from outside Japan…" I let out a little laugh, "That's true, I haven't seen as many Americans as I would have liked, but there's not much we can do about that…" I respond, I paused when a screen pops up in my face, after reading it I open the chat with Kirito.

"You still with Kitiara?" he asks

"Sure am, still at the amphitheatre."

"Good, head west until you get to a farm house, Asuna and I will meet you there."

"Alright, see you in a few minutes."

"Looks like we're going out of town with Kirito and Asuna, I think it's to get used to our fighting styles to help us out tomorrow." I say as I close the chat with Kirito and stand up, extending my gloved hand to Kitiara to help her to her feet, to which she gratefully accepts.

Like I had predicted, when the four of us met at the farm house, Kirito had stated that we should go hunting for a few hours. That way we can coordinate ourselves with each other. No one had any objections, and we all agreed that fighting humanoid-type monsters would be more effective than fighting the wolves roaming the floor.

We headed northwest until we found some sort of encampment, filled with goblins – if I remember correctly, these goblins are not too different from the Ruin Kobold Sentinels, and so practicing on them is a very good idea.

After a few hours of fighting, we had cleared the camp; everyone except me had leveled up, Kitiara and Asuna twice, and Kirito only once. I had used the excuse that I had just leveled up before the meeting earlier to rid myself of the investigative glares from Kitiara. We had gathered enough data from our fighting that we concluded that we would work much better splitting into two groups; Kirito and Asuna in one and Kitiara and I in the other.

The sun was getting close to setting, it would be night time by the time we returned to the village, and we all know that monsters were both more powerful and numerous at night. "Hey guys, I think we should head back now…" I say. My three other party members look at their clocks and come to the same conclusion.

"You guys remember that farm house we met up at earlier?" asks Kirito, "Let's head back there," he adds as we start walking.

Asuna looks at him with a confused look, "Why there? Shouldn't we head back to town and go to an inn?" Kirito sighs as he scratches the back of his head, "Well, it's because I own that farm house, and there's enough room for all of us to sleep, it's way more comfortable than at an inn, and it won't cost you a single Col,"

"I'm sorry Kirito, but I'll have to pass," I say. Almost as soon as I had finished my sentence, I could feel the glares coming from Kitiara's eyes yet once again from behind me. If her eyes were lasers, I'd have two holes in the back of my head.

"C'mon Archangel, don't be a loner…" I hear Kirito saying behind me, receiving a few giggles from the two girls. I stop in my tracks and pivot on my heels, facing Kirito.

"Don't be a loner?" I repeat, "Coming from you Kirito, that's quite the insult!" I add as I pivot back and return to my position as Vanguard.

I could barely hear Asuna and Kitiara whispering to each other, "Do they know each other?" asks one of the girls, "I don't know, I thought they just met today…" responds the other.

"If you two have questions, it would be better asking either one of us, rather than yourselves." I say suddenly, getting a shocked gasp from both girls. "The answer is yes, Kirito and I know each other. We met online in another game a long time ago and haven't seen each other since." I had decided not to reveal our secret just yet as it might still scare the girls away, and potentially risk both our lives.

The rest of the walk back to Kirito's house was silent, only interrupted by the occasional howl from the wolves before they attacked. Being the lower-level monsters on this floor, I had managed to quickly dispatch them all before they could even reach Asuna and Kitiara only a few meters behind me.

We had arrived back at the farm house about a half-hour after sunset. Kirito, Asuna, and Kitiara went inside while I headed towards town, or more specifically, the inn. I was hungry and since I didn't have to spend money for lodging tonight, I could go big on dinner. I made sure to disappear silently so no one would notice.

I reach the inn less than five minutes later sit down at a table and read the menu, almost immediately I notice someone sitting down in front of me. I kept my eyes on my menu, "Can I help you?" I ask coldly.

"I knew I'd find you here. I could hear your stomach growling since we left the Goblin Camp." I hear Asuna say with a laugh.

"Asuna isn't it?" she nods at my comment, despite the bitterness in my voice, "Why did you follow me?"

"Kitiara's worried about you…" She starts before I interrupt her.

"I've seen her staring at me. She's more worried that I'll rape and/or kill her," I snap back.

"What makes you say that?"

"I've been branded as a criminal just by what my face looks like, that's why I'm wearing this goddamned mask, but she's been trying to figure out who I am under it, and she won't like what she finds out…"

"Let me see - "

"Not happening!" I snap. She flinches from the roughness of my voice. But then she does something I would not have expected in a million years; I receive a strong slap to the side of my face. I didn't feel any pain, as the game removes it and leaves behind a slight numbing sensation, but the force of the slap nearly sent me toppling off my chair.

"I don't care that you're a beta-tester. Let me remind you that Kirito, Kitiara, and I are all putting our lives in your hands tomorrow in the boss fight, just as you're putting your life in our hands. I need to know that we can trust you, and that you can trust us, otherwise we are going to have a serious fucking problem. So get a grip, grow a pair of testicles, and let me see what's underneath that mask of yours."

I respond with a threatening growl, but then I stop, shocked at my sudden realization. I couldn't believe it. The girl in front of me, who until just now, was the most calm and composed out of us all, even in the midst of battle, just lost her shit at me, not even caring about the few players around us.

"Alright, fine. But not here," I say, letting out a long sigh. "Let me get some food for everyone and head back to the house…" I was rewarded with a faint, but very sincere smile.

The walk back to the farm house was quiet and the air was filled with awkwardness. Asuna and I reached an empty alleyway, so I stopped her and stood under the torch. I silently remove both pieces of my mask, receiving a shocked gasp from Asuna as she covers her mouth with her hands. I wait a good minute before putting the mask back on and we start walking again.

Asuna hasn't said anything so far, and the suspense is killing me. "So, what did you think?" I quietly ask.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know… I thought you meant you looked like a thuggish rogue…" She mutters, just as quietly. We had now reached the front door of the farm house, I pause before opening it.

"Don't worry about is, let's just forget what happened, and please don't tell the others." I say before opening the door.

Just like Asuna had said back at the inn, Kitiara was worried about me, she sat nervously on one of the couches, jumping to her feet the instant I had walked through the door. "I brought food for everyone!" I yell, somewhat calming Kitiara down. Kirito, who must have been upstairs, suddenly jumps down the railings and lands beside Kitiara, enticing a surprised yelp from her.

After I materialized all the food and laid it out on the coffee table in front of Kirito and Kitiara, I took my share and locked myself in one of the rooms, hoping to be able to eat in peace, to which I do quickly. I open the door, noticing that the other three are still downstairs, talking about various strategies or combat techniques. I thought it would be a nice chance to level up my hiding skill, and a smile forms on my face when I see a wooden beam above the group.

And I stood on that beam for a long time, so long in fact that I must have fallen asleep, because all I remember is the sudden sensation of falling, followed by a numbing sensation in my ass thanks again to the pain dampener. All three of my party members jump to their feet and walk up to me.

"Are you okay?" asks Asuna, weird… I thought Kitiara would have been the first to ask.

"Yeah, I'm fine… quick question, when did I go upstairs?"

"Almost two hours ago," answers Kitiara. I start laughing like a maniac, then after about a minute I regain my composure.

"You're telling me that I've spent over an hour and a half standing on that beam, without any of you noticing me?"

Both Kitiara and Asuna start laughing, unless I just said something funny, I have no idea as to why they're laughing. I feel Kirito's hand rest on my shoulder.

"I'll hand it to you, Archangel, you're weird… but that was just too much," he says in-between laughs.

And then, almost as if on cue, all three of my party members stop and yawn for a good fifteen seconds, then all look at each other and burst out in laughter once again.

"Looks like we're all tired…" I say in between two yawns. Great, I hate that yawns are contagious.

"Oh, right!" I hear Asuna say, "We've already arranged who's in which room."

"Alright, where are Kirito and I sleeping?"

"Nope! We agreed that it would be me and you in one room, and Kirito and Asuna in the other," says Kitiara, with a brand-new sense of motivation. I find this entire situation very mischievous, but all I can do is let out a sigh.

"I only have one rule; I sleep with my mask on, and you make no attempts to remove it. Got it?" I receive a silent nod from her still grinning face.

We all bid our goodnights and went in our respective rooms.

As I close the door, I hear the chime of the character menu opening up, and then I hear Kitiara pressing a few buttons before a soft blue light fills the room for a few seconds.

By the time I turned towards the bed she had already changed into some sort of nightgown – wait! One bed? What the hell is this girl thinking?

"Aren't you going to change too?" asks the malevolent female with whom I'm supposed to share a bed with after only meeting her this morning. I swear, she and Asuna are up to something and I don't like it so far.

"No," I respond coldly, not willing to fall for whatever trap she has set up for me.

"At least un-equip your armor and your sword…" I look down to my chest and realize that my breastplate is still there, I guess I must have forgotten to take it off before eating. My hand swipes down as I summon the character menu, I then place my armor and weapon back into my inventory and change my black long-sleeve shirt into a black short-sleeve.

"Better?" I ask in an unfriendly tone.

"Not quite, take the mask off," she answers in a tone as unfriendly as mine, if not more.

"I already said that was out of the question!" I say through gritted teeth.

"Look, Asuna already told me about the scars, so you don't have to hide them from me." God damn it! I should have known that Asuna would have told her. I make a mental note to have a little chat with her later.

"And yet you still wonder why I have trust issues?" I respond threateningly.

"You have trust issues because of what happened when you got the scars, not because we're trying to be friends with you," explains Kitiara, slowly starting to get frustrated with me.

"Kirito is my friend, yet he's shown no interest in what's behind my mask,"

I see Kitiara struggle with trying to come up with a reasonable answer, but then her shoulders drop and her gaze lowers to the floor. Good, she's finally realized that she won't be able to win this argument.

"Fine, sleep with your precious mask on, then" she says as she slips underneath the sheets and makes herself comfortable, she stops moving when she's on her side, back towards the middle of the bed.

I turn the rooms only light off, and then I sigh as I join her in the bed, resting on my side, my back also towards the center.

After about ten minutes of Kitiara shuffling around in the bed, desperately trying to find a more comfortable position, she decides to be bold and places herself against my back, arms reaching around my chest and resting her head on my shoulder. I hear her let out a sigh of contempt. I silently remove my mask and place it on the small table beside the bed.

"Does this happen often?" I whisper.

"Hmm?" she mumbles half asleep.

"Do you always sleep with guys the night you meet them?" I ask, but I get no answer from Kitiara, as her breathing has changed to a slow and deep rhythm. I laugh a little on the inside, and then decide to join her in the realm of dreams.

We've got a boss to kill.

A/N: This is my first Fanfic, so comments, reviews, and criticism would be greatly appreciated. No, i'm not one of those "Oh, please be nice/gentle with me" guys. If you have something to say, then please do so.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I'd like to thank everyone who sent me a review or a comment; they were along the lines of what I was going for, so I was really exhilarated.

Disclaimer: I do not own Sword Art Online

I try looking around me to figure out where I am, but all I see is a thick fog surrounding me everywhere. I know it is night time as there is a somewhat cold breeze and it is dark, despite the fog. I feel weird, there is an odd feeling stuck inside my chest, an emotion that I don't remember having in a long time. The only emotions I've been feeling for a long time until now were anger, panic, despair, and fear.

This unknown emotion makes me feel like I have nothing to worry about, like I'm on top of the world and no one can hurt me. All I can say is that I've missed this feel –

"Feels wonderful, doesn't it?" I hear an unknown female voice ring out from the foggy void. My hand instinctively reaches for the sword strapped to my back, but I don't feel the familiarity of the cold steel. Wait! Where's my sword? I desperately search around me for my trusted weapon.

"Oh, you won't need that mundane thing here," says the voice in between laughs. I spin around, trying to locate the source in which the voice is coming from.

I take a few steps and try to swat away the fog in my way, only to be rewarded with series of feminine giggles.

"That's right, my dear brother, come find me," adds the voice. My feet stop moving as I am taken aback with shock. What does she mean by brother? Suddenly, my jaw drops as I recognize the voice, but the last time I have heard that voice, it was more childish, more carefree.

How long has it been? How long has it been since I've heard her loving voice, since I've seen the warmth behind her dark green eyes?

"Mikaela!" I yell my twin sister's name out at the empty void.

I suddenly feel like something pulls me upwards, then just as suddenly, I'm pulled back towards the ground. I land hard on my back, without any sensation of pain or impact.

I open my eyes and notice that I am lying down on top of a hill, there is a layer of fog at my feet, preventing me from seeing anything below.

"They're beautiful, aren't they?" I hear my sister say; I look at my side and see Mikaela lying down beside me, pointing to the stars. I follow her finger and look at the vast open night sky, mesmerized by the countless stars.

"Very beautiful, just like the view we had back home," I say as I look back at my sister, but I frown as it feels as though something is wrong; Mikaela's hair is much longer than I remember, she's also taller and older.

"You sure have grown up, Mikaela." I add as my hand reaches towards her and rests against her cheek, she giggles as her hand rests on my cheek.

"So have you, _" she says. I notice that she said a fourth word, but no words came out, and I suck at reading lips, meaning that I will never know what she said.

"Big brother! Hurry up!" I hear my brother Sebastian, two years younger than me, yell.

"Don't worry Sebastian, I'm coming!" I yell back, running down the stairs so fast that I was sure I was going to trip and fall. I arrive at the living room a few seconds later.

The scene in front of my eyes was not uncommon, but it was frightening nonetheless; my sister Natasha, four years younger, is sitting in Mikaela's lap, who is rubbing Natasha's back and trying to sooth her. Mikaela's hair is shorter than it was a minute ago, and she looks younger, back to the familiar form of a little ten year old girl.

Natasha's face is bright red, and she is doing a combination of hyperventilating, gasping for air, and of course, panicking. Natasha has had asthma for as long as I can remember, so certain attacks such as this happened every now and then.

I quickly throw myself on the floor beside both my sisters, I take Natasha's hand and give her her inhaler, and then I help her use it. After a dose of the medication, Natasha had managed to calm herself down and regain control of her breathing. She then jumps into my arms, locking her little hands behind my neck, and starts sobbing, I rub my hand up and down her back.

"I'm sorry…" she mumbles, her face buried in my shoulder.

"Natasha," I say. "It's okay. Next time, please have your inhaler a bit closer, and warn me or Mikaela sooner instead of trying to do it yourself. I'd much rather it being a false alarm than it happening for real. Can you do that next time, for me?" I ask, receiving a nod and a quiet "yes" from her.

Without any good reason, I took interest in my surroundings; I could easily recognize the living room of our old house, even though it has been about six years that I've lived in that house. If I remember correctly, the house was pretty big, even for a family of six. The house was off on the outskirts of the city; there was a forest and a lake nearby, so our house had a summer-vacation feel to it.

My eyes widen in shock as an old and horrifying memory resurfaces from the bottom of my subconscious; I could have been ready for a million of Natasha's asthma attacks, but I could never have been ready for what is about to happen.

The sound of a window being smashed invades the house, followed by the sound of a door opening. Panic had overcome us all, paralyzing us on the floor of the living room.

Three men wearing black ski masks came towards us and I instantly knew that something was wrong; black clothes and ski masks were certainly not summer attire. They looked like the guys who robbed a bank in the movie I saw a few days ago with mom and dad.

I have no idea how long we stood there, paralyzed by fear, in front of this strange man as his two friends searched around the house for valuables. I held Natasha tightly as Mikaela held Sebastian, we were both trying to calm them down by remaining calm ourselves; truth is, I don't know how Mikaela and I managed to not collapse in panic. We constantly heard the sound of something being thrown around or being smashed into pieces.

The two other men came back and said something to the one watching over us, he yelled at his two friends and then turned to me; a brand-new kind of panic overcame me as he made his way closer. He grabs me by my hair, rips Natasha out of my arms, and throws me against the wall, holding me by my throat as my legs flailed.

He leaned in close and with a voice that tried to make him look like a good guy and said, "You're the oldest. Don't you know where your parents keep important things? Things your parents told you to always take care of? The things you need to give to robbers to make them leave. They told you about stuff like that right?" he then started to laugh diabolically as he rudely lets me go, falling back to the ground.

I coughed for a few seconds and I rub my throat. "I don't – I don't know what that is!"

"Now go look for it!" he says, completely ignoring me. "If I don't like what you show me, I'm afraid I'll have to take your siblings away from you one by one. One of them dies every ten minutes unless you bring me something."

I was desperate as I searched the house, I'm the oldest, and I have to protect my brother and sisters. My head hurt terribly from being smashed against the wall. I felt nauseated; I was ready to pass out, but I forced myself to go on, otherwise they'll kill Natasha, Sebastian, Mikaela, and me. I just had to find something to bring back to the thieves, but I had no idea what they'd consider valuable.

I fell down the flight of stairs from the attic to the upper floor. I slowly and groggily got back up, only to run to the bathroom and throw up. I was ready to give up, but I knew that we would all die if I did.

I don't know how much time had passed, but I ran back downstairs with a box full of mom's jewelry. I had reached the living room, just in time to see the robbers cut Mikaela's throat open, and then throw her lifeless body with the dead bodies of Natasha and Sebastian. He looks at me, a wicked smile on his lips.

"Nine minutes, not bad at all. Too bad I lied about killing your siblings every ten."

A violent rage took control of my body as I ran towards the man who killed my siblings. I throw the jewellery box at his face, sending him to the ground. I jump on top of him and furiously punch his face over and over again as hard as I possibly could.

I suddenly feel a very sharp pain in my stomach; I look down to see a big knife stabbed all the way through to the hilt, and blood everywhere. I passed out from the pain.

I woke up a few minutes later to the sound of sirens. I struggled to open my eyes, and when I finally managed to open them, my vision was blurry. I could make out red and blue lights before my eyes closed once more and refused to open.

I was overcome with silence and total blackness.

It's just too unfair, we never did anything wrong, we were just kids. I was confident I was a cool big brother up until that day, but I lost everything I ever wanted to protect in less than ten minutes.

My eyes open as I wake up with a jolt, my breathing heavy and my heart rate way above normal. I take a few moments to calm myself down before I move or do anything rash. I felt wet and cold from sweat.

"Archangel?" I hear a voice directly in front of me say. My eyes dart forward and focus on Kitiara, a quiet sigh of relief escapes my lips. I must have moved around in my sleep, because I am facing towards the center of the bed now, with Kitiara literally right in my face. I am either too tired, or too out of it from my dream to care about me not wearing my mask.

"Archangel, are you awake?" says Kitiara, I nod.

"Yeah, I am now… sorry if I woke you up," I say.

"You didn't wake me up; I couldn't sleep, so I just settled for watching you sleep." She says, instantly, my face felt like it was on fire, a minuscule smile appears on her lips. "You slept very peacefully, until about twenty or so minutes ago."

Twenty minutes? It felt like I was trapped in that nightmare for a few hours.

"Sorry… I don't usually dream, it caught me off guard," I lie, truth is; I've been having nightmares at least once every two or three days, not just any nightmare, but the same nightmare every time.

"I'd say that was more of a nightmare, rather than a dream," she says, I notice a worried hint in her voice.

"I had a nightmare! So what? We all have them," I snap, raising my voice to just above our previous whispering.

"Care to talk about it? Usually it helps…" I take a deep breath, contemplating whether I should talk to her about my nightmares or not. Maybe I don't have to tell her everything.

"When did you first have a near-death-experience? When did you first start fearing for your life" I ask, lowering my voice back to a whisper. She looks at me with a confused look, I guess she didn't expect my question, given there was no context for her to put two and two together.

"About a month ago, when this game first started…" I guess she didn't even bother to ask the question back to me because she knows I'll give her the answer.

"It was six years ago that I've had my first near-death-experience, then another one a year later. I've feared for my life everyday for the last six years…" I answer as I feel tears falling from my eyes.

As soon as I realized that I was crying, I throw myself upwards, feet now on the wood flooring and facing away from the bed. A few moments later I feel a warm pair of hands reach around my chest as Kitiara hugs me from behind. She rests her chin on my shoulder.

"Who is Mikaela?" she whispers in my ear, her face so close I can feel her warm breath.

I involuntarily take a sharp intake of breath.

That's right…

Kitiara called me Archangel. Meaning I'm stuck inside Sword Art Online. A piece of my dream came back to mind.

If I'm in the death-game, it means it's been six years.

Six years since I've heard the loving voice of my twin sister.

Six years since I've seen the warmth of her dark green eyes.

Because…

Because…

"She's dead…"

A/N: I know this chapter is about half as long as the first one, but I thought it would be better to post a little something now, before things get too hectic with my personal life. There's a chance I might not update for a bit, but I'll be sure to get back on the horse as soon as I can.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Hey guys, I know it's been a while (something like six months or so). I want to apologize for not posting anything earlier, but like I said at the end of Chapter 2; a lot of stuff was about to happen - thing is, I didn't realize just how much shit was going down.**

**Long story short; I was discharged from the military for various reasons and was sent back home. I fell into a pretty bad depression, and then on top of that, my dad abandons me when I sent him an S.O.S call.**

**I guess I didn't get back into the game until last weekend. I went and participated in this year's Tough Mudder, and i had the time of my life! I've never felt so good in a long time (or sore for that matter - lol). I've pretty much banged this chapter off since Saturday, and I've got a lot more coming along not far behind.**

**Enjoy,**

I wake up to the sound of my personal alarm and yawn as I stretch my arms, trying to shake this weird numbness spread across both of them, it kinda feels like I've been having extra weight on them all night.

I sit up, resting my back against the bed's headboard as I rub my eyes furiously, trying to get this "itchy" feeling out of them. This is weird; I have two completely different experiences when waking up this morning compared to all other mornings.

My inn room usually don't give me this much discomfort -

My body shoots upwards as my mind is overcome by panic since I can't remember where I am; I'm almost certainly not in my usual inn room on the northern end of town. Even the air has a different feel to it, a different taste from the air in and around the city.

Fresh air, a vanity in which I realize I have not had the luxury of enjoying for such a long time.

Looking at my clock, I remember that my standard wake-up time is 05:30. That gives me plenty of time until the boss raid leaves town; maybe I'll go outside for a walk and enjoy nature, maybe level-up some skills if I feel like it.

Just I am about to slip out of bed; a movement to my right side catches my attention. And then an involuntary sigh escapes my lips as I see a head of messy black hair. I chuckle a bit as I deduce that my itchy eyes were from having Kitiara's hair in them.

Just like that – last night's events return to me; the nightmare, falling apart and breaking down in front of Kitiara. I feel embarrassed to have shown such a side to her; so I silently exit the bedroom and run out the front door almost as fast as my legs could carry me.

I made my way around the back of the farmhouse, to which I remember seeing a training dummy sometime yesterday. I decide that now would be a perfect time to practice my knife throwing skill, and training dummies were a great way to increase skills while avoiding potential danger; the downside, however, is that the training dummies don't give any experience or Col, and the rate at which skills increase while used against them is only about a tenth of what it really would be against a normal enemy mob.

I take my throwing knife out of my inventory and materialize it in my hand and pull the blade out from its sheath, I then strap the sheath onto my right shoulder, where the hilt would be pointing towards the ground.

My eyes turn back to the knife as I inspect it for a few moments, watching my face in the reflection of the flat end of the barbed blade.

Happy with the knife, I make my way ten meters away from the training dummy; I hold onto the hilt tightly and pause for a second, letting the Sword Skill take control of the movement. A few seconds after I hear the 'whim', I hear the sound of the blade making contact with my target. I go to retrieve the dagger, noticing the perfect bulls-eye; but what else should I expect from the systems aid?

This time, I try without the use of the system. I place the knife back inside the sheath; trying to get my quick-draw skills some honing as well. I close my eyes and I take a deep breath, trying to concentrate as best as I can, my sole objective is to strike the target.

My eyes snap open and I grab my knife with my left hand and throw it with all my might towards the training dummy. I hear a short muffled 'thud' as my blade makes contact with my target. From the sound alone, this throw was much weaker than the throw using the skill, and upon closer inspection; about a foot of the middle of the target. I would still hit the enemy, but it would be a glancing shot as opposed to a direct hit.

I repeatedly practiced my knife throwing skills for at least an hour, maybe two – I tend to lose track of time easily; constantly switching between using and not using the systems aid. I noticed that the accuracy and power behind my system-less throws were getting better and better over time; hitting nearly the same spot as a throw that was using the system.

A loud ring surprises me and I flinch, accidentally throwing my knife forwards without even aiming. I see the knife fly towards the side of the house, and then bounce off the stone wall and fall to the floor with a loud 'clang'. Another loud sound rings through my eyes.

It wasn't until the third ring that I realized that it was the church bell indicating the turn of the hour. I listen for more rings, if any; and sure enough, there were more. They finally stop after 8 chimes – 08:00, two and a half hours of practicing…

I need a break.

And I need to stop zoning out for extended periods of time.

If this becomes a habit, it's going to get me killed one day.

I need to relax for a bit and enjoy the fresh air; and what better way to do so than sitting near a tree?

I walk up to a large oak tree and examine the branches; I deduce they are large enough to hold my weight and then some. I jump and grab onto the lowest set of branches; being only about 8 feet above the ground. I swing myself around the branch and end up sitting on top the branch. I position myself so that my feet are pointed towards the end and my back towards the trunk, leaving a large space between my back and the trunk.

Almost on cue, the wind starts to pick up slightly; rustling the leaves around me and filling my nose with the smell of wildflowers and freshly-cut grass.

"Oh yeah" I sigh to myself – I forgot how relaxing this could be.

With all honesty; it's at moments like these, where it is really hard to believe that all of this is inside a video game; the flowing breeze, the warm sunrays, the smell of nature…

The fear of death…

This world's beauty and mystery is a deception; just like a venus flytrap to an insect: Very captivating, and once you've poked your head inside; it traps you and drowns you in an overwhelming overload of shit and bad stuff.

I couldn't help but let out a desperate chuckle – yeah, I know, that was a horrible analogy.

Suddenly, I feel a pressure added on my back and I immediately realize that someone is leaning against me.

I had almost forgotten that I wasn't alone. I guess being a beta-tester didn't help with my social life, even so now that there's so much animosity towards us. Not like my social life was any better in the real world anyways.

"Morning…" I say in a very fake and half-enthusiastic voice to whoever is leaning against my back; and considering the events of the past 24 hours, I'd bet it was Kitiara.

"Good morning," I hear her say through a yawn as her back curves and she stretches her arms behind her, almost hitting me in the face.

"You forgot this," she adds as my mask falls into my lap. I almost sprang up in panic – why is my mask not with me?

"Thanks, I completely forgot about it…" I respond as I replace my mask back on my face. Note to self: never take it off again, who knows what will happen next time I forget it and someone other than Kitiara sees my face.

My trail of thought was broken by the sound of a stomach rumbling…

A huge grin appears on my face, and I try my hardest not to laugh at the loud sound. Unfortunately, I lost control and a snort escapes my lips. Causing Kitiara to turn to me and ask what's wrong. Her stomach grumbles again and her face flushes a bright red as she realises why I'm laughing, now I can't hold it in any longer. I burst out in laughter.

And I nearly fell off the tree from laughing so hard. I had just enough time to catch myself before Kitiara pushed me off the branch.

I land hard on my back, roll onto my shoulders, and push myself back to my feet by using my hands. I stand underneath the branch in a crouched position, and then Kitiara jumps down to the ground, and delivers a kick aimed at my face.

I caught her ankle just before it made contact, surprising her.

"I feel honoured, really. But maybe next time you don't go for the high-kick when you're wearing a skirt," I say as I let her foot go. She furiously turns around and walks away.

"Are you hungry?" I ask Kitiara, she stops but doesn't turn to face me. I can almost see the fury radiating from her.

"Does that mean you're buying?" she replies, I answer back with a laugh.

"How about we resolve this with a duel? Loser buys breakfast,"

Her large two-handed sword is poised at my neck before I could even finish the sentence. I smirk; she's going to have to do more to intimidate me, a lot more, especially since her little panties-flash from a few seconds ago. My hand swipes down, and after a few buttons, my dagger is removed from my person, my sword is returned to my back, my short-sleeved shirt is replaced with my long-sleeve and my chest plate. I then challenge Kitiara to a duel.

A large banner appears above the two of us. The half facing my side has an icon with my avatar's face, or in this case, my mask. On Kitiara's half, her face is clearly illustrated in a large picture. Beside both of our faces are our names: Archangel Vs Kitiara. At the very top of the banner stands a large circle with numbers counting from sixty down to zero. A small tick is heard every time the numbers change; indicating each passing second.

Sixty seconds in a silent wait to fight your opponent. These sixty seconds seem like the longest sixty seconds of your life.

When the timer was down to fifteen seconds, my vision is changed so that I see everything in red. At the same time, a loud buzzing noise and then static fills my ears.

The timer was down to ten by the time I regained consciousness, I am kneeling down with one hand covering my face, and the other on the ground holding myself up. I look ahead and see Kitiara in the same situation.

"Are you okay?" I call out as I get back on my feet and make my way towards her. I offer her my hand and help her to her feet as well.

"Yeah, I'm fine. What was that?"

"Something bad, I just know it" is what I told her, but in all honesty; I already know what just happened. The game froze for a split second in an adjustment to the system. The adjustment involved; pain.

Pain was now added to the features of Sword Art Online.

This was no longer just a game.

Just the fear of death wasn't enough.

Shit just got real…

**A/N: I feel really bad for ending this one with a little cliffhanger, but i needed some sort of separation between the next few chapters (leaving the Boss Battle as its own chapter)**

**Thanks for the support guys, and I'll see you soon.**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Another chapter is up guys!**

**I'm not sure if I've mentioned it before, but I've already deviated from the Canon and created my own AU.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Sword Art Online, or any of its affiliates**

I knock on the door leading to the bedroom in which Kirito and Asuna were sleeping last night. It's already 08:30, and they're slacking off. I mean c'mon! I was training all morning and Kitiara at least made her way outside. And yet these two have the guts to sleep in?

"Kirito!" I yell, "Wake up!"

I knock on the door another three times, but still no sign of life on the other side.

"Kirito!" I yell again. "This is not a joke! We're in trouble!"

Again, I received no answer.

"Alright! That's it!" I fumed with rage. I punched the door with all my might.

And I immediately regretted my outburst. In less than 5 minutes; I had completely forgotten about the fact that pain was now a part of the game. It felt like every single bone in my hand were shattered into pieces. I shrieked in pain as I jumped away from the door, clutching my wrist in an attempt to ease the pain.

I suddenly had an idea to get rid of the pain. I open my inventory and grab one of my healing crystals and one of my healing potions. I lift the crystal to eye level and call out the command to activate it. "Heal" I called out.

Just as I thought – as soon as the crystal dissipated into thin air, the bones in my hand returned to perfect condition, only problem is that the healing process is as painful as it was breaking it. At least that only lasts a split-second.

I let out a sigh of relief.

It wasn't until then that the door leading into Asuna and Kirito's room opens.

"About time you two lovebirds woke up," I say in a menacing tone; both from being pissed off at them and from recovering from the pain of having my hand shatter.

"What's going on?" asks Asuna. Kirito lifts his arms over his head and yawns as he stretches. "It's only 8:30…" he mumbles.

"What's going on?" I repeat. "What's going on is that the two of you; and probably 90% of the rest of the players, have just slept through a system update." I explain.

"An update? But there isn't anything on the news feed," mutters Kirito as he searches through the menu.

"What was the update about?" asks Asuna, my expression becomes grim.

"The update removed the pain dampener. This isn't a game anymore." I answer in a monotone voice.

All three of my companions gave me a sceptical look, obviously not convinced with my declaration.

"You don't believe me, don't you?" I ask. Without getting an answer, I take my knife from my inventory and extend my left arm out in front of me. I make a long and deep cut horizontally across my bicep.

That's when all three of my friends gasped in complete and utter terror. Slightly confused, I look down at my arm; I sure wasn't expecting there to be blood running down my arm.

"Wow…" I exclaim out loud. "I didn't expect them to go as far into detail as to have blood, this feels so realistic."

"Archangel! Are you an idiot?" yells Kitiara

"Doesn't that hurt?" asks Asuna.

I let out another sigh (it's gotta be my tenth one this morning) as I take my mask off my face once again.

"Of course it hurts. I just have a higher tolerance for it; I didn't get these scars from cat scratches, you know."

Knowing that the two girls had only seen my face, and that Kirito hadn't seen anything until now, it was then that I decided to take this one step further; and show them the rest. I take my shirt off and show them the burn marks that cover my chest, back, shoulders, and half-way down my arms. The scars themselves only reach half -way down my back, and they seem perfectly in line with my ribcage; ending exactly where my abdomen begins.

"I understand that physical pain isn't necessarily a part of your daily lives, but it is for me. I have been in constant pain for 6 years; not even the most effective of pain-killers do a good job at keeping them at bay." I say.

I had thought that Asuna and Kitiara's horrified reactions to my face were bad, but I beat that with something even more disgusting and horrifying. Kirito on the other hand, was slightly disgusted at first, but soon became mesmerized by all the scars.

I put my shirt back on, and made sure my armor is strapped onto my chest properly.

"Now, if you'll excuse me; I have an unfinished duel with Kitiara to take care of." I say as I replace my mask to hide the huge grin plastered on my lips.

Kirito and Asuna both insisted to be the referees for our duel; they also demanded that we pay them breakfast for their "services".

This time, Kitiara was the one to challenge me.

She took her stance as soon as the timer started counting down; her sword drawn and held in a really good position, not exactly defensive, nor offensive; but easily interchangeable. I was slightly taken aback and highly impressed at how good her stance is; it's incredibly difficult for me to determine what she will do.

I started to take my stance, my hand reaching up to the hilt of my sword.

I grabbed thin air.

Slightly confused, I reach for my sword once more, only to grab thin air yet again. I look over my shoulder to see what's going on, because this is getting pretty weird; I know for a fact that my sword is strapped onto my back. But why can't I reach it all of a sudden?

I came to the sudden realization that the burn scars on my shoulders are preventing me from having a full range of motion; meaning that in the physical state I'm in, I can't reach my sword.

If I can't reach my sword, then I can't fight; if I can't fight, then I can't win; if I can't win, then I can't complete the game.

I take the harness and the sword's sheath off my back and readjust the straps. I put everything back to its place, only thing different is that my sword's hilt is now pointing towards the ground instead of being pointed skywards.

The duel timer reaches zero.

Kitiara lets out a war cry as her large two-handed sword starts to glow a dull green and dashes towards me. It takes me a split-second to recognize the skill as a basic horizontal slash.

I don't have enough time to draw my sword to either counter or parry. Looks like I have to pull out one of my trump cards this early into the game.

I activate my Acrobatics skill and let the system take over my body as I flip over the swinging blade; completely dodging Kitiara's attack.

I feel bad for her; she attacked first without even allowing me to prepare, and then she still got surprised by my dodge.

A scowl formed on Kitiara's face, her sword started to glow a brighter green and she swung downwards, a low-level vertical attack.

The speed behind this attack was even faster than her horizontal, and I didn't even have time to activate my Acrobatics to dodge this one.

I clap my hands above my head, and for some reason, a cloud of dust pretty much exploded from Kitiara's attack.

When the dust finally settled; both of the judges and my opponent gasped in shock at what I've just done; I caught the blade. That's when Kitiara hesitated, just for a mere moment.

I was too far away for a punch, but the perfect distance for a kick.

My leg swept under hers, sending the poor girl straight to the ground. As soon as she hit the dirt, a large message appeared between us indicating my win.

I extend my hand out to my partner, she glares at me with a new-found evilness and she reluctantly takes my hand and I pull her up to her feet. I offer her sword back and she grabs it forcefully, turning away with a shrug and starts walking away.

"Wait!" I call out, "Kitiara!"

She stops dead in her tracks, barely turning towards me.

"What is it?" I actually shivered from the coldness of her tone and that penetrating gaze.

"Are you hurt?" I ask, genuinely concerned for her wellbeing.

"I'm fine, no thanks to you!" she snaps, making me flinch backwards. She returns to walking away from me, heading towards the town.

She took three more steps before I noticed a small limp on her left side. I dash to her side, pull out of one my healing crystals and while pressing the red gem against her shoulder I call out "Heal".

She immediately took a sigh of relief.

"Want to get some breakfast? It'll be my treat" I tell her as I place my hand gently on her shoulder, her quivering shoulder.

She's crying.

"Kitiara?" I grab her other shoulder as I turn her to face me. Her eyes are puffed up and red, tears streaming down her amethyst coloured eyes.

"You hurt me…" she says through sobs.

"I know, and I'm sorry." I tell her. Suddenly, Kitiara wraps her arms around my neck and pulls her chest close to mine.

"Thank you, Archangel" she whispers into my ear.

"What for?"

"You could have easily used your knife or your sword, either of those would have hurt me even more than a kick,"

"C'mon, don't mention it. It would be bad for my reputation if everyone thinks I'm a big softy." I respond with a goofy grin hidden behind my mask. She immediately lightens up at my comment.

"Let's go get breakfast," I add.

We were pretty quiet until we had started eating.

"How do you feel about the Boss Battle?" I hear Kitiara ask in between two bites of her toast.

"If all 30 of us who attended the meeting yesterday are coming, we shouldn't have too much trouble."

"What about the battle itself, do you have any advice for it?"

"The Sentinels will always start with a vertical attack. They are relatively weak; I'll counter their initial attack, then you switch in and you should be able to kill them in one hit with either a diagonal or a horizontal."

Something clicked in the back of my mind. If this was a cartoon or an anime, then I would have a flashing light bulb over my head.

"When was the last time you got a copy of the guide book?" I ask.

"3 days ago… why are you asking?" she responds with a confused look.

"Can I see it? Mine is a week and a half old…" I ask as she hands me her copy of the book.

I swiftly search through the pages, but cannot find the subject that I'm looking for.

"I'll be right back!" I say as I dash out of the restaurant. I ran to the nearest store that sold a copy of the guide book. There was a sword smith just down the street and I quickly bought the new guide book, and then I quickly returned to the restaurant and sat back down in front of Kitiara.

I open the new guide book and search for the same subject as before, but yet again, with no results.

"There isn't any information on the Boss in this guide book…" I explain to my confused partner.

"What does that have to do about the battle?"

"Remember yesterday, Diabel read his guide book for information on the Boss…" I say, receiving a nod from Kitiara.

"I saw his team, there were 10 of them. If they really did find the Boss Room, then they could have easily taken care of him. On top of that, their levels are too low to be able to use the Sleuth Skill; and even if they did have the skill, at such a low level – it would be inaccurate."

"Diabel was going off of information from the Beta Test, meaning that he or someone in his party was a Beta-Test…"

"Elidab!" I yell out in shock.

"Elidab?" she repeats.

"Diabel is Elidab; Beta-Tester who led the assault on the Floor 1 Boss. He led us all into a trap and had us all killed and took the last-hit-bonus for himself,"

I packed the guide book back into my inventory and gave Kitiara her copy.

"If he's planning to do the same thing again, he's going to kill 30 players, players who are actually committed to clearing the game."

Kitiara gasped.

"We need to warn them!" she says.

That's when the bell rang 10am.

"It might be too late for that… We need to tell Kirito and Asuna." I say, the desperation and fear clear in my voice.

"They're in danger."

**A/N: I really hate leaving you guys with another cliffhanger, but unfortunately, it's the only way I know to end a chapter as a sort of closure. (I have a really hard time with continuity, so this is my way around that)**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Sorry for not updating recently, I'm still getting used to the whole "going to college" thing. It feels weird being a couple years older than the others. All they seem to care about is getting high, getting drunk, consuming ludicrous amounts of protein, and showing off at the gym. But what can I expect from a policing program? (I know, douche bag alert).**

**Anyways, I'm slowly getting the hang of things, so I should be able to manage more time towards my writing. I'm not really expecting to post something on a daily basis… but maybe a little more frequent than having a month or two gap in between chapters.**

**I want to thank you all for reading, commenting, and reviewing. You're awesome!**

Kitiara and I were panting pretty loudly from sprinting by the time we met up with the raid group, we were also just in the nick of time; so close in fact, that we didn't even have time to catch our breaths before we started moving out. Of course, our "late" entrance gave us some weird looks from the others, but I guess that was to be expected. One set of eyes, however, had maintained his gaze on both me and Kitiara. His eyes held a weird and investigative look when we mingled in with the group, probably seeing my obvious attempts to avoid him. I frown in disgust towards the unofficial raid leader; my expression hidden behind the mask, of course, considering I put it back on before leaving the inn.

Oddly enough, I was still not alright with everyone seeing my face and knowing the pain I've experienced in the real world; it's not like they could ever understand – most, if not all of them, have never had to go through stuff like that. And the last thing I want is their pitiful attempts of sympathy for my sad excuse for a life.

One thing I've noticed is that it has taken me about 24 hours to get comfortable to the idea of having Kitiara at my side, so comfortable in fact, that I have started to avoid wearing the mask when it's just the two of us. I mean, having a partner is great; especially if they can keep up to the same pace.

Maybe a month in solitude has made me soft, and desperate for human companionship… maybe it's the same for Kitiara, Kirito, and even Asuna. Have we subconsciously latched onto each other due to our individual loneliness?

'_You're a hypocrite'_ a voice yelled from within the back my mind. '_You hide behind a mask and put up a cold and ruthless front, you push people away from you. And then you have the audacity to demand for friendship?'_

Do I sympathise with Kitiara because I can relate to her more than the rest? Is it because she's one of the rare Americans that I've lowered my barriers and allowed her in?

"No," I told myself, "There's more than just that".

Kitiara's ears perk up and she looks my way. "What was that?" she asks is a certain grin on her face, almost as though she heard my internal monologue.

"It's nothing, don't worry about it," I tell her.

"Are you sure? Because you seem like something is on your mind and your shoulders are slouched."

I roll my shoulders and then straighten out my back. "I don't know what you're talking about" I respond condescendingly.

She playfully punches my shoulder. It was at that time that I notice Diabel looking back at us and a smirk appears on his face.

I knew that he would be suspicious towards me. If I've been able to figure out his identity; then he shouldn't have had any problems figuring out who I am. I didn't even change my name from the Beta Test and neither did Kirito - Kirito is famous because he reached the highest floor out of everyone else (while going solo, nonetheless). I'm not entirely sure about my fame during the Beta; but there were originally only 1000 of us and I've heard that only 800 or so actually came back to play, then I've also heard that another 300 Beta Testers had passed away; leaving the grand total to approximately 500, it would be pretty easy to recognize most of the names used during the Test.

I have to do something to get rid of Diabel…

"We're being watched. Diabel is listening in our conversation, don't say anything important," I tell Kitiara with as much severity as I possibly can and as quietly as I can. I see her hesitate for an instant.

"Archangel, we need to talk about what we did last night…" she says, talking at normal loudness. I immediately pick up on her cue and smile behind my mask. I will admit, she's extremely resourceful and has quite the sharp mind. It would be a shame to lose her.

"Look, I'm sorry I sprang that up on you. I know that marriage is pretty easy to do in this game, so we do have some time to think about it…" I start.

"No," she interrupts me, "I didn't mean your proposal. In fact, it's about time you did; I was starting to think you were a spineless coward."

"Jeez… those are not the kind of words that I would have expected from you, sweetheart." I respond. Kitiara's face flushed a bright red as soon as I called her sweetheart.

_'Damn, don't lose focus now; a simple compliment shouldn't faze you like this. Diabel will realize we're toying with him if you lose your composure now…'_

"Pl…" she starts, fidgeting and acting all embarrassed. "Please… don't call me… stuff like… like that… in pub… in public…" she says.

Okay – I really have no idea if she's faking this, or if she's really embarrassed that I called her sweetheart. I swear; if she can fool me, then we've definitely got Diabel fooled.

"Oh, come on Kitiara. You're embarrassed that I called you sweetheart, but you were perfectly fine talking about having sex last night just a second ago…" I say, trying to embarrass her further, whether she's faking this or not.

She let out a little shriek. "Don't talk about it so casually!" she whines. "We just recently found out about the Ethics Code…" she adds a little quieter this time.

Wait – Ethics Code? Something like that was not in the Beta, either that, or no one had found it. How does Kitiara know about something like that? Why does she know about something like that?

I look back to Diabel, whose face is bright red, redder than Kitiara's, and he looks back to the front.

"We got him." I tell Kitiara, "He stopped listening." I turn to her and notice that her face flushed an even brighter red, now even more embarrassed than Diabel was a mere moment ago.

Wow, I guess I really struck a home-run with our conversation; even if she was the one who started it.

"That was some quick thinking on your part, I'm impressed Kitiara." I tell her, trying to see if she can calm down

"You went too far…" she mumbles, trying to hide her face from me.

"I know… But it worked; we got Diabel off our case." I respond.

"By the way, you're really cute when you blush," I add as I inch my face closer to hers.

I know, I know, I'm being a jerk for continuing to tease her – and so much for trying to calm her down, now I'm just making things worse than they have to be.

My ear was rewarded with a loud shriek and my face was rewarded with a strong slap.

I freeze in place.

"I'm sorry…" I say. "I've crossed the line. I'm going to stop."

I then proceeded to isolate myself out of shame for the remainder of the trip to the Labyrinth. I made my way to the back of the group and put my legs on autopilot. I randomly started counting heads; and counted 22 people including myself.

Something's wrong.

We should have 28 people in the raid.

I counted again, and got the same results – 22. Let's double check; we've got 4 teams of 6, that's 24, plus Kirito, Asuna, Kitiara, and me. That makes a total of 28. Why are we missing 6 players?

6 players make up one of the main teams… We're missing one of the main teams…

Wait – where's Kibaou?

There it is, the large and menacing black steel doors leading into the Boss Room.

Diabel turns around to face us all, digging his sword into the hard ground; shield in hand.

"Alright guys. Take five minutes for a quick break. Make sure you have your gear equipped and that your potion bags are filled."

I motion over Kitiara to follow me as I head towards Kirito and Asuna, who were somewhat hiding in the back of the group.

"Hey Archangel, Kitiara! Almost thought you two weren't coming," says Kirito with a beaming smile as he saw us.

"Wouldn't miss this opportunity for anything," I respond as I extend my hand out to him. He firmly grabs it and shakes.

"Good luck," he says,

"Not that you'll need it anyways." I immediately answer back.

"By the way, there's something I need to tell you about…" I start, but a voice from behind interrupts me.

"Archangel! Why don't you come up here for a second?" I hear Diabel call out. I can suddenly feel twenty or so set of eyes staring at me; a very unpleasant feeling creeps up my spine.

"Fuck…" I mutter quietly.

I spin on my heels. "What do you want?" I ask threateningly as I slowly walk towards him.

"I just want your opinion, how do you think the battle will play out?" He answers, throwing my question off with another question.

What is he trying to do by singling me out like this? Does he plan to reveal my identity as a Beta-Tester? That's highly unlikely; he would reveal himself as a Beta-Tester along with me if he did…

"You know more about the battle than I do and you seem like a good leader," I lie. "So you should know what to do. Honestly, just switch between the four main teams whenever you need to; and we should be just fine."

By now I was face-to-face with the raid leader; and I realized that he is a lot shorter than I had anticipated. I'm 6'2", and I tower over him by an easy 7 inches.

"I feel sorry for your girlfriend," I say as I laugh a little, "She must have back problems from bending over so much."

Most of the crowd started snickering, which infuriated Diabel even more.

"By the way, where's Kibaou? I haven't seen him all day," I say as I head towards the Boss Room door and push them open. I noticed Diabel's face flashed from fear, to surprise, then to contempt.

'_Jeez…" _I sigh to myself, _'he still thinks I'll fall for his trap?'_

To be honest, I saw Kibaou's Vertical attack coming from a mile away.

I swiftly sidestep and dodge the attack, I then used Kibaou's momentum against him when I grabbed his elbow and his shoulder and somersaulted him; slamming him to the ground face first. I then pressed my knee against the middle of his shoulder blades and grabbed his arm to twist it skywards; making sure to make it painful, but not to the point of breaking it.

"Would you look at that?" I exclaim, "Look who finally decided to show up!"

I let Kibaou go and walked up to Diabel once again.

"Next time you try to kill someone, try not to choose someone who can kill you first." I spat. "Now, rally your troops; we're killing a Boss, aren't we?"

Diabel swallows hard and then faces everyone else and raises his sword high into the air.

"Let's get him!" he yells. Within moments, the rest of the group jumps to their feet, weapons in the air, shouting and cheering.

The raid runs into the empty and poorly-lit Boss Room. Everyone fans out near the middle, waiting for the Boss to appear.

Sometime later, the room lights up in a bright and multicolored hue, revealing Illfang the Kobold Lord sitting on his golden throne in the far end of the room. The Boss stands up and draws his axe and buckler, he then angrily and powerfully bellows at us; summoning his Ruin Kobold Sentinels.

Diabel drew his sword and commanded the group to attack.

Illfang and his three Sentinels charged and met us halfway, our group led by Kibaou; which I found odd, I wouldn't have thought he had the guts for front-line work – but whatever.

Kitiara and I handled the left side while Asuna and Kirito held the right, considering our training with the Goblins yesterday, we all managed to quickly dispatch the Sentinels and send them to Oblivion.

The Ruin Kobold Sentinels would only spawn when the Boss drops to the next health bar, which meant that the support teams (the four of us) would have some time for a breather. I took this break as an opportunity to deal some additional damage to the Boss.

I activated my Acrobatics skill to vault over Illfang, making him focus on me, leaving his defenses wide open for the big guy Egil to land a hard hit on Illfang's stomach. The Boss roars furiously and re-focuses on the main teams; giving me the chance to land a few hits myself all along the back of his neck and down his spine as I let gravity do it's part.

As soon as I landed on the ground behind the Boss, he took his axe and swung wide and low, trying to get rid of me. I vaulted over the axe thanks to my Acrobatics skill, landed and combat-rolled over to where Kitiara was, stopping on my feet directly in front of her. I then bowed, making Kitiara laugh.

"Show off" she called out to me.

"Only for you, sweetheart," I respond, making her blush again; but that embarrassed expression on her face was quickly changed to horror.

"Watch out!"

With no hesitation, I crouched and then spun around with my sword leading. Slicing the Kobold's head cleanly off of its neck and sending a huge fountain of blood gushing out and raining over me and a bit of it also fell on Kitiara.

I sighed as I stared at my sword. "I got blood on my sword… Great, now I have to clean it so it doesn't rust…" I whine.

"You're covered in blood, and all you care about is your sword rusting?" she exclaims in outrage.

I craned my neck towards my sword and dragged my tongue along the surface, exaggerating my actions to make it look like a taste-test, just to aggravate her even more. "My diet lacks protein and iron; this is a great supplement for both, plus it doesn't taste so bad." I tell her. She just stared at me and deadpanned.

"You're a psychopath!"

"I'm pretty sure I'm more of a sociopath"

"Hey, you two!" someone yells, completely interrupting us. "Can you guys stop fighting like an old married couple and help finish this Boss?"

I turned around to face the Boss just in time to see his fourth health bar fall into the red zone. Illfang the Kobold Lord lets out another powerful roar, and throws his axe and shield away; indicating his change of attack-style.

"Stand back!" yells Diabel, "I got this!"

This was not part of the plan. We were supposed to surround and confuse him, what is Diabel thinking?

I took a closer look at the sword the Boss now had. It only took me an instant to realize that the sword was not a talwar like it was in the Beta – it was now a nodachi, a much longer sword than the curved talwar.

I hear a gasp come from the right side of the battlefield, "Wait, stop!" yells Kirito, his desperate cry turning only a few heads his way. "It's no good! Get out of there!" Diabel either didn't listen or didn't hear, and unleashed a sword skill. Faster than he'd ever been; Illfang jumped high into the air, landing and jumping across the pillars surrounding the room.

Diabel stopped, completely stunned and without a clue as to what to do; leaving him exposed and waiting to be killed.

Without thinking; I dash over to him and activate my own sword skill as I jump over Diabel's head and counter Illfang's attack, quickly regretting my decision as the force behind the Boss's attack sent me flying into Diabel and crushing the both of us to the floor; him flat on his stomach, and me on my back on top of him, my body was numb as I watched my health bar drop down halfway.

My eyes flash open as I see Illfang's sword glow a dark red as he was preparing an execution-type attack to finish me off. I had just enough time to activate my Acrobatics skill once again to dodge the attack by rolling on my shoulders and back-flipping myself to my feet.

As I landed straight, I heard a pained scream and a burst of blue polygons exploded and gathered around my face, and I didn't even pay attention to what had just happened. I was too focused as I landed another volley of sword skills at the Boss.

A strong back-handed slap knocked me away from Illfang and I was thrown far away. Luckily for me, I took little damage from the hit, only enough to send me into the beginning of the red zone. I was greeted by Kitiara's familiar face as she kneeled over next to me, her face in complete and utter terror.

"Hey," I say weakly, catching Kitiara's attention as she leaned closer to hear me. "Am I dead?"

"No, you aren't," she answers with confusion.

"Damn… I thought I just saw a beautiful angel watching over me…" I say as I take a health potion out and drank the red liquid; restoring me to full HP. I then heard Kirito yell out Asuna's name, so both Kitiara and I whipped our heads towards them.

I see Asuna just barely dodge an attack as her brownish-red cloak was ripped to shreds, revealing her appearance to the rest of the group. Kirito charged in to attack, but he fell victim to Illfang's feint and took a strong hit dead on, dangerously lowering his health into the red zone. The Boss's attack also threw Kirito backwards and into Asuna, sending both of them tumbling to the ground.

I wouldn't have enough time to reach them, even with my Acrobatics skill, to be able to defend the pair. Luckily for me (sorry, luckily for Kirito and Asuna), Egil came to the rescue and defended them; giving them all the time they need to recover.

Kirito used a healing crystal on himself to swiftly restore his health, and from there on; he and Asuna kept switching out between themselves and landing powerful hits on the Boss, until finally Kirito landed an incredibly strong slash that split the Boss in two pieces, exploding him in a massive cloud of blue polygons.

Everything got quiet, and then a large banner appeared above us; congratulating us for our victory. The entire raid group started cheering loudly, I stayed quiet as I pull myself to sit up, being helped and held in place by Kitiara, who for some reason, didn't seem to cheerful herself. The room faded back to its poorly-lit state and the ambiance it gave off really wasn't helping with the tension within the raid.

A message appears in front of me, the sender was Kirito but there was no subject. I opened it, curious to see what he would have to say. I quickly read the message, understanding that he had gotten the last-hit bonus; and that the item was pretty similar to his cosmetic item. Therefore, he was giving me his cosmetic item. I look up the model for this new cosmetic item and realize it is a long black trench coat with a hood, assuming that Illfang's bonus loot was another coat of some sort.

That's when I noticed Kibaou sitting crossed legged, staring at the ground in what looked like remorse. He took a deep breath and stood up, heading straight for me. I had just enough time to stand on my feet before he forcefully grabbed my collar.

"Why did you kill Diabel?" he screamed in my face. I just stared at him behind my mask with confusion, I take a quick look behind Kibaou to see everyone's faces with horror-filled looks, and then I look back to Kitiara with practically the same expression. As soon as she notices that I was looking at her, she quickly turned away in embarrassment. I also look over to Kirito and Asuna to see, yet again, the same expression of horror plastered on their faces.

This is weird… I don't recall ever killing Diabel.

Suddenly, I had a flashback of when Illfang was preparing my execution; I had just protected Diabel from a fatal attack, and when that backfired – I pinned him to the ground and practically offered him to Illfang for the kill.

I should feel remorse. I should be horrified to have killed someone. I should be mortified. I should be feeling a million different things right now, but nothing – there was no turmoil inside of me, just an everlasting calmness.

I laughed like a maniac. "Tell me Kibaou, what did Diabel tell you for you to hide behind the Boss Door and wait to attack?" I ask him. "Did he use your hatred against Beta-Testers for his personal gain? Did he tell you a Beta-Tester was going to open those doors?"

"He told me a murderer was going to open those doors!" he answers.

"So you would have killed Diabel if he was the one to open the doors?" Everyone gasped at my quick comeback.

"What are you saying?"

"Back during the Beta-Test, Diabel – no, sorry… back then, his name was Elidab. He led hundreds of players against the First Boss, and killed them all. Sure, killing players during the Beta meant nothing; but he did that tactic over and over again. He was going to do the same thing to all of you, so I had to stop him." I explain. Slowly but surely, Kibaou loosened his grip and eventually let me go.

"Then why did he say you were a killer?"

"I was the PvP arena's reigning champion. I must have participated in nearly 1000 duels; and all of them I had won. That is what Diabel was referring to." I laughed again, "Although – I'm amazed that you would blame me so quickly for his death – I did put some effort to make it look like an accident."

"So you're admitting that you killed him?" I heard someone mingled into the main group yell out.

"I was never in denial; I never tried to tell you I didn't do it." I respond sharply. I then heard a roar of some sorts, and one of the players charged at me, spear in hand. I waited motionless until he was within reach, and then I met his charge by slamming my arm across his chest at the same time that my foot swept behind him, knocking the man flat on his back and gasping for air. I look down at the man and see his health bar drop by a sliver, making the cursor floating above my head orange.

"Anyone else wish to join him?" I threaten the rest of the group. No one dared move a muscle.

"You're a god dammed lunatic!" I hear someone else yell out. "You're not a real Angel; you're an Angel of Death!"

Everyone else yells out, _"The Angel of Death!"_ in unison, almost like they're a part of a protest group.

Kibaou seems to look satisfied with the results of his outburst, and then he turns over to face Kirito.

"And you!" he yells, pointing his index towards Kirito in accusation. "How did you know the Boss's attack pattern was different from the Beta?"

"He must have been a Beta-Tester too!" yells out another member in the crowd.

"You really are pathetic, Kibaou." I call out, making everyone turn their heads away from Kirito.

"Here we are, saving your lives, and you thank us by stabbing our backs. Quite frankly; I'm impressed at how well developed your sense of honour and loyalty are, your family must be so proud of you." I add.

Kibaou looks at me almost as though he wants me dead. "You son of a…"

Kirito interrupted us by doing something I was not expecting. He starts laughing almost as maniacally as I had.

"Don't compare me to those newbies." He says, putting Kibaou and the rest in a state of shock. "Most Beta-Testers are so green; they don't even know how to level-up. In fact, all of you are already better than them. I only knew the Boss's attack patterns because I've fought much stronger enemies of higher floors with high-level Katana-skills; During the Beta, I was the one who made it to the highest floor out of everyone. I know a lot of things, even more then the best information brokers."

The crowd burst out in outrage. "That's cheating!" "He's a cheater!" "A Beta-Tester and a cheater!" "He's a Beater!" I see Kirito smirk at that last comment.

"A Beater, huh?" he says, stopping the group from any further comments. "I like that. From now on; you will remember me as the Beater, and to help you tell me apart from the rest…" he adds as he turns his back to the group and equips his new gear and a black and brown trench-coat materializes and flutters a little bit from the slight breeze, I took that as a cue to put my coat on as well. My trench coat is made from a light and thin fabric while Kirito's is a heavier and thicker leather, clearly it was made to be some type of armor while mine offered no stats – just like my mask.

I pulled the hood over my head and turned to face Kitiara. "I think it's best if we head out our separate ways, I don't think you'd want to be associated with a murderer." I tell her as I walk towards the back doors to open the second floor.

I open the doors and the room is flooded with brightness. I open my menu, remove myself from the party with Kitiara and run away as far and as fast as I can, trying to put as much distance between us as possible.

I ran until I reached the first town, and the only reason why I stopped is because I slammed face-first into an invisible wall, hitting it so hard I was thrown backwards and landed on the hard ground. I look up to see a red hexagon with the words "Access Denied".

That's when I remembered that I was now an orange player for the next 24 hours, and one of the privileges taken away from orange players is the ability to enter towns; and by default, the access to the AREA's safe zones.

I exhale in defeat. "Good thing I slept long enough last night, because this is going to be a long and dangerous night…"

**A/N: If it wasn't clear, the difference I made between the health potions and the health crystals is the speed at which they recover HP: crystals are very expensive and fully heal a player instantly, while a potion will slowly heal HP over a period of time. (The more expensive/powerful the potion, the more health recovered over time)**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Hey guys, sorry for the long wait. I'll be honest, I had this chapter ready over a month ago, but after some rereading; I felt unsatisfied by the formatting. I couldn't figure out how I wanted things to progress: I was debating between putting a flashback in the middle of the chapter, or have the "two months later" thing in the middle. I'm not too confident with my ability to track time, so I just went with the more straight-forward approach and went with a linear timeline.**

**Anyhow, enjoy! :)**

I landed hard on the road as I hit the invisible wall preventing me from entering the town

That's when I remember that since I'm now an orange player, I won't be allowed to enter the town. I also remember that since this is my first time as an orange player, my cursor would return green in 24 hours. That means I need to survive out in the wilderness overnight.

Had I still been on the first floor, I would be fine since the mob levels are already pretty low compared to mine, and after a month on the first floor I've grown accustomed to the enemies attack patterns.

This was a new floor; with brand-new mobs and higher levels.

I'm going to have to be careful.

Carefully considering my options, I've devised two different plans. The first and safest plan would be to head back to the boss room and return to the first floor, where I could sleep in the field without much worry. Only problem is, that I could run into the raid group on my way there. And who knows what they'll try to do to me if I get caught.

The second and most dangerous plan would be to stay on this floor, relinquish the thought of sleep for the night, and potentially have to fight for my life just to live to see another day.

I did not like my odds so far… to make this easier for me; let's assume that I'll be fighting regardless of which option I choose. I'd much rather fight against multiple mobs than try to fight a 30-man raid group.

I quickly open my inventory to count the number of potions and crystals I had. I've only got 4 health potions and 3 health crystals, great – now I have to be even more careful than before (if that's even possible).

Also, it's only a matter of time before players reach the town, so I need to act quickly and I can't stay near the outskirts if I want to avoid people.

With a long sigh, I adjust the mask on my face and draw my sword, keeping a tight grip on the hilt. I then slowly walk away in search for a defensible position for the night.

.

By the time that my brain left autopilot-mode, a few hours had passed since night had fallen, and I had been fighting non-stop since then. These new mobs, Wind Wasps, are ruthless; they hide and wait to ambush me, stunning me for a few seconds; and then dozens of them swarm out of nowhere and switch between themselves to compensate for their long cool down.

The wasps themselves are smaller than any mob I've ever seen before, being only approximately 50cm tall – they might be the smallest mob in the game, but if they were real, they'd be the largest insects on Earth. Just that thought alone was enough to send a shiver down my spine.

I am extremely tired, and my fighting has become sporadic; my movements flailing around without my usual precision. Eventually, all of the wasps that had surrounded me have been taken care of, and since no more have been spawning to attack me, it finally gives me the time to breathe and relax my muscles; which are sore beyond belief. I take this break to check the time, 3:30am; it has been almost 8 hours since I had started fighting.

I look at my inventory…

I only have 1 health potion left, and about 8 hours remaining as an orange player.

I'm really pushing my luck fighting recklessly like this; if I don't focus soon I'm going to end up getting myself killed.

My eyes scan the area for more enemies, I find a large and rather comfortable-looking rock and I am overcome by the desire to sit down and sleep. The temptation is just too strong; my muscles ache and beg for rest, my mind starts to slip between consciousness and unconsciousness, and my eyelids weigh as much as lead.

The debate between my body and my mind was quickly finished as my body pushes itself towards the rock.

That's it… I've given up… I'm going to die out here, sleeping on a rock. Hopefully someone won't find me huddled in the fetal position, just to laugh at how pathetic I am for dying like this.

Oh… right… video game; my body won't be left behind.

Chalk up another point in my table of depressing thoughts.

A loud scream wakes me up, my mind fully alert and my body suddenly rejuvenated.

With my new-found energy, I run towards the source of the scream, run past some tall bushes, finding a clear and open field; an open field with a powerful bull and a female player, a female player with long flowing black hair, deep amethyst eyes, and a large two-handed sword.

"Kitiara!" I yell.

I dash towards the bull with my sword leading, activating the Sonic Leap skill as I slice a straight line through the bull's right flank; taking a position next to my former partner. I look at the monster's Hp bar and notice that my attack had barely produced any real damage.

"Damn, that thing is strong!" I mutter.

"Tell me about it! I've been fighting him for 40 minutes already." She sighs back. I freeze in place from shock, 40 minutes of constant fighting and this thing's HP is barely at the halfway mark. What is this thing? Is it a field boss?

"Let me try something," I tell Kitiara, switching in to take her place against the bull.

I launch myself forward and take advantage of the bull's hesitation to land a series of sword skills; a zigzagging jumble of Vertical, Horizontal, and Diagonal attacks. I jump back just in time to avoid what looks like a powerful head butt.

In another swift movement, I sheath my sword, grab my dagger and drop myself into a crouching position; pretty much forcing the bull to prepare a charge attack. The bull charges at me full speed in an attempt to run me over, but I activate my acrobatics skill to jump onto the bulls back; fiercely jabbing my dagger into his neck and shoulders over and over again.

The bull starts bucking and flailing around; forcing me to leave my dagger embedded into his neck as I grab his horns and hold on for dear life.

The more the bull jumps, bucks, kicks, flails, or whatever else it's doing; the more I get the hang of it, and the more fun I'm having. I cheerfully yell as though I'm on a roller coaster and start laughing. Despite all this fun, I'm scaring myself shitless by doing this – I mean, one wrong move and I could be killed in an instant.

Just for fun, I yank hard on the bulls left horn, tilting his head to the right and in turn, forcing him to veer to the right. A huge smile forms on my face. "No way!" I yell, "I can control him!" I laugh excitedly.

I'll be honest; I'm not doing this solely to save myself or Kitiara from danger. No, I have a much more ulterior motive behind risking my life and riding this crazy bull. Simply put – I want to impress her.

Slowly but surely, the bulls HP bar keeps decreasing as it keeps flailing around uncontrollably. One thing I had discovered a little while back is that a weapon like a knife will continuously deal damage for as long as it is embedded into the target; a common video game term known as DoT or damage over time.

So in the end, keeping the bull distracted is probably the best choice to keep Kitiara safe from danger. My own safety, however, not so much, but I don't care about that right now.

I can't remember exactly how much time passes before the bull's HP is nearly empty; I'm quite impressed that I have managed to hold on top of the thing for this long. I grab my dagger and pull it out of his neck, and then I start maneuvering the bull.

"Kitiara!" I call out, "I'm going to bring the bull towards you, and I need you to finish him with a Cleave attack!"

"Alright! I'm ready!" she tells me. I jerk the bulls head towards her and give a strong slap on his rump, almost throwing myself off by the sheer force the bull suddenly puts as it charges towards Kitiara. I veer the bull slightly to the right as to just avoid the poor girl.

As soon as the bull and I are within range, Kitiara unleashes a powerful two-handed sword skill. Killing the bull instantly and barely missing me. The bull explodes into a multitude of blue polygons and I am thrown to the ground by the sudden lack of a physical body underneath me. I hit the ground face first and I slide a few meters as my legs bend and twist over my head. This right here is a notorious wipe-out pose called the scorpion – and let me tell you something, it really hurts.

I decide to stay on the ground since my legs feel like they're made out of Jell-O and I'm afraid that I'll fall back down pathetically if I even try to get up.

Even if I want to get back up, the soreness and exhaustion from earlier came over me. Looks like I had managed to keep myself awake for just long enough to save Kitiara from danger.

"Earth to Archangel," I hear faintly. I want to respond, but there's a large blackness overwhelming my vision and I desperately try to fight it. It feels that if I answer Kitiara, my concentration will slip and the black tunnel will overlap my vision completely.

It's cold and dark and silent.

.

Comfort is not something that I am entirely comfortable with; it's too relaxing, too peaceful, too carefree, and too reckless. Comfort is something I strongly believe to be a privilege to have, something that a certain someone such as myself is not entitled to, not allowed to experience; especially after the events leading to my parent's deaths just over 5 years ago.

No matter how self-degrading I am, my mind can't help but feel at ease when I come to. There's an odd warmth presented to the back of my head and neck, and it feels like there is a hand cupping my right cheek and another hand softly ruffling my hair.

As a kid, I had a weird tendency to act like a cat when someone touches my hair, I would usually end up doing stuff like meowing or purring. It started as a joke, but then my mom, my sister Mikaela, and my best friend from childhood Alicia all thought it was cute, so I kept doing it. It never got annoying or out of control for me or anyone else, it was a "relief that there's a silly side to the strict little boy" or so mom would say.

So as I am laying down in the middle of I don't know where, doing I don't know what, being petted by I don't know who; I squirm in place as I let out a soft "meow".

Suddenly the hand brushing my hair and the hand cupping my cheek jerks away and I feel my face grow extremely hot.

That's when I realized that something wasn't right.

I slowly open my eyes and the very first thing I find (other than blinding light) is a pair of amethyst coloured irises staring at me, and I am instantly mesmerized by their depth; they seem so full of emotion, so full of fascination, and so full of… wait! Is that desire?

Slowly my focus widens and the tunnel vision disappears, giving me a full view of Kitiara with a pretty flushed and embarrassed face.

As it turns out: she's leaning against a tree and has my head resting on her lap, I guess I must have been so tired after that fight with the bull that I just passed out from sheer exhaustion afterwards. While I was sleeping, Kitiara must have removed my mask. Oddly enough, it doesn't appear as though she has noticed that I am awake yet.

Her hands reach back to rest on my hair and she starts petting it softly once again. I subconsciously close my eyes once again and relax to her touch, and within minutes I'm nothing more than a purring mass of melted goo. Kitiara giggles slightly as she starts scratching my head a little more vigorously with both hands now.

Just as I am about to call it quits and tell her I'm awake; she lets out a surprised gasp and she defensively wraps her arms around my head and tries to hide my face in her stomach. Without any idea as to what is going on, I decide to keep pretending to sleep.

I hear a set of footsteps heading our way, stopping pretty close-by. "Can I help you?" I hear Kitiara ask aggressively.

"Yes, you can." The stranger tells her, equally as aggressive. "You were in the Boss raid," he states. My shoulders tense up when I recognize the voice, it's Kibaou. My guess is that he's looking for me.

"You're that chick who was with _"The Angel of Death"_. Where is he?"

I exhale gently three times against Kitiara's stomach in quick succession; in attempts to let her know that I'm awake. The exhalations are gentle enough that Kibaou would not notice, but strong enough for Kitiara to notice. The tension in her arms relaxes slightly, most likely her way of acknowledging my message.

"Could you be a little bit quieter? You're going to wake him up if you're this loud," she states calmly.

"Who is that, anyways?"

"It's your mom," snaps Kitiara, making Kibaou take a step back in shock. "Relax, it's my friend, you dumbass."

"Who is your friend?"

"Didn't your mom ever teach you to mind your own business?" she says loudly. Kibaou hesitates for a mere moment, but that was more than enough for her to take control of the situation. "She didn't? Wow… well then, your mom is as pathetic as you are. The apple really doesn't fall far from the tree." She adds.

Kitiara lets out a sadistic laugh before continuing. "No sense of honour, no sense of pride, no sense of loyalty, and no sense of privacy. You must be the paragon of deadbeats."

"You bitch!" yells Kibaou. I feel Kitiara's entire body tense up.

"Kibaou!" I hear far off in the distance, "We've got a lead!"

"This is not over!" he says before he leaves to meet up with his friends.

I wait until Kitiara relaxes her muscles before I do anything. In the short amount of time that I've known her, I've already figured out to not be on her bad side. She doesn't just bark; she's got quite the powerful bite to back it up.

When I feel it is safe to do so; I slowly escape from her grip, sit up straight facing her and place my hands gently on her shoulders.

"You really are amazing!" I tell her with a smile plastered on my face.

"What do you mean?" she mumbles as her face flushes a bright red and she turns her head to look away from me.

"Thank you." I say, wrapping my arms around her and hugging her tightly. "Thank you for protecting me from the monsters… and from Kibaou,"

"Think nothing of it. That was just to repay you for saving my life earlier." She responds as she places a hand on the back of my head.

"Then we're even?" I ask her.

"Not quite, I've got some good blackmail material against you now. Imagine what people will think when they hear that the mysterious Archangel acts like a cat when his hair is touched." She says with a grin. My eyes widen in horror and a loud gasp escapes my lips.

"You wouldn't dare!" I exclaim as I push myself to my feet and place a few feet in between us.

"I think it's really cute…" she laughs.

"It's a subconscious reaction, I can't control it." I explain. I take a short pause. "By the way, two can play that game," I extend my hand towards her.

"Huh?" she asks as she grabs my hand.

"What would people think when they hear that Kitiara will spend the night with any guy she meets that day?" I say as I pull her to her feet. Her eyes widen in shock and her face flushes a multitude of different shades of pink and red.

"It appears as though we have reached a stalemate." She says with a soft giggle.

Without having to say any words, we both decided to start walking towards the town. I'm not sure about Kitiara, but fighting all night long has made me pretty hungry.

.

*Two months later*

.

It is now February, three months after this stupid death-game began, and two months since the first floor boss was defeated, two months since Kirito had been branded as a Beater, and since I had been given the nickname _"The Angel of Death"._ For the first month, I had been hiding in the shadows; waiting for things to calm down. During that time, I couldn't risk being in town since people would have recognized me, there have been four incidences; two of which the players had tried to arrest me, and two of which where players had tried to kill me. In the end, it was my fault; and I couldn't help but hate myself because I've given more than enough opportunities to be recognized by the general public; the mask and the black cloak that only Kirito and I wear are the two most obvious clues pertaining to my identity.

The second month was a bit different, Kibaou (of all people) had written me apology in the newspaper MMO Today for everyone to see. He had explained his side of the story concerning the First Floor Boss Battle, and he was even nice enough to say that without me; the raid would have fallen and the Boss wouldn't have been defeated.

As much as I didn't want to take credit away from Kirito, who was the true hero in that battle, I felt somewhat relieved to know that I was no longer being chased for a crime that I didn't commit.

On some more happy news; the front lines have just started on the twentieth floor, we are safely clearing floors at a much faster pace now. People were getting organized and were getting the job done, their cohesion much better now that Diabel (or Elidab, if I'm going off of his Beta-Test name) is no longer with us to screw things up.

I hear a twig snap directly behind me.

I snap out of my daydream and prepare for a fight. But before I could even draw my sword, what looks like a pair of hands reaches around my face and takes my mask off, then proceeds to cover my eyes; all the while a soft chest presses hard against my back.

"You sure look gloomy today, Archangel," I hear a familiar voice say right beside my ear, a subtle laugh accompanying her voice. My entire body relaxes and my hand leaves the comforting grip of my sword.

I regain sense of my surroundings; I had been level grinding on this floor since 23:00 last night, almost twelve hours ago, and needed a short break from the constant fighting. I must have zoned out for a while, I really need to stop trying to get myself killed.

No matter how much I've leveled my hiding skill since we had defeated the first floor boss, Illfang the Kobold Lord; she has always been able to find me.

This "cat and mouse game" recently became a game between the two of us.

Ever since we defeated Illfang, two months ago, our relationship had slowly grown… No! We're not dating or anything, but rumours have been saying otherwise. We've been told multiple times that we make a "cute couple", which would instantly make the two of us yell out in embarrassment, babbling complete gibberish in a desperate attempt to tell them that they're mistaken.

I am violently woken from my reverie as I am suddenly thrown off balance as a sharp pain appears on my nose, resulting in a very terrified and involuntary squeal as I flinch and jump backwards and fall on the grass. Kitiara then places her hands on her hips; trying to look intimidating, however her face is bright red and she's desperately trying to hold back her laughs from my recent outburst.

Unable to hold her composure any longer; Kitiara bursts into a long and loud fit of laughter, she kept on laughing for a few minutes – even getting to the point where she had to clutch her sides as though in pain. I take this time to get up and lean against the very same tree that I had been hiding behind less than a minute ago. After what feels like a few more minutes, Kitiara finally manages to calm herself down to the point where I can now talk to her rationally.

"Are you done?" I ask condescendingly, crossing my arms over my chest. Kitiara lets out a few more giggles before placing her hands back on her hips.

"I think so," she answers while letting out a long sigh, apparently still trying to calm herself down. Geez, I didn't think getting flicked on the nose was so funny. Or was it my reaction that was so funny?

"by the way, why did you sneak out of bed last night? I would have trained with you if you had just asked me," She comments.

My stomach growls really loudly, basically stopping the both of us with whatever we were just about to say. I ask Kitiara if she had eaten yet and after she had denied doing so, we had unanimously decided to return to town for lunch.

.

Because of the nice apology from Kibaou, I was no longer a target. Meaning that I could walk freely down the streets and people would not try to attack me anymore. Sure, some of them still gave me dirty looks, and some would back away in fear. At least they left me alone for the most part.

I am fine with dealing with the looks and with the uneasy silence everyone gives me, what I can't stand is when someone tries to get in my way and give me his opinion.

Which is exactly what happens today.

Just as Kitiara and I were about to enter the restaurant on the main floor of the inn, I was cut off but a small group of 3 young boys; probably two years younger than me.

"Where do you think you're going, _"Angel of Death"_?" asks the boy in the middle, obviously the leader of the group, despite being the smallest and most likely the weakest one.

"I'm here to have lunch," I answer calmly. "Even an idiot would have been able to figure that out."

The kid scowls as he grabs the collar of my black dress shirt. This intimidation tactic clearly does not work on someone taller than you, but whatever, let the kid think he's got control.

"Let's settle this like men," he says, still trying to act intimidating.

"Like men?" I laugh, "Oh, please! It would take all three of you to be able to count as a man."

"That's how you want to play? Fine then, how about you go against all three of us. right here, right now. If you win; we'll leave you alone. But if you lose; we take the girl with us." He says as he points to Kitiara, who was staying quiet at my side. Her hand reaches up to my back and creates a fist, bunching up a small amount of my trench coat.

"You've already lost," I tell him. Making the group of kids step back with shock and confusion. I take this time to walk over to the middle of the street, setting the location for our duel. I want people to see this. I want people to know that they cannot take Kitiara away from me.

The three kids reluctantly make their way to the street. It seems as though they now understand that they've really pissed me off.

I summon the UI and challenge the group to a Battle Royale, because I was the challenger, the team of young boys got to choose the setting; to which they take Near-Death-Mode. The 60 second countdown started immediately.

Near-Death-Mode, the duel style that requires you to bring your enemy's HP to 1, no rules, no exceptions. Much more aggressive and much more dangerous than First-Strike-Mode; where you only need to be the first to land a solid hit, or make the enemy fall to half HP.

Because we are inside a town; we are protected by the AREA, we cannot die, even if our HP is down to 1, which means that I don't have to be careful about not killing them – I could go all out and not regret anything. That also means that my opponents have no need to hold back either.

I draw my sword within an instant and point it towards the ground as I start pacing from side to side. Ten paces left, ten paces right, repeat; my gaze never leaving the group of idiotic kids. My opponents are clearly terrified of me since they haven't even started getting ready for the fight; they just stand there frozen in fear.

By the time the counter hits 30 seconds, a large crowd of no less than 100 players had formed around us. Whispers could be heard from all corners, wondering what's going on. Things like a 1v3 Battle Royale were so rare, that they were the talk of the town for days.

Regardless of the outcome, tomorrow I would be pestered by the member of MMO Today.

With 15 seconds left, I dash towards my opponents – my movements so quick that it looks like I had disappeared from my spot and appeared in their faces. "You should get ready," I tell them, clearly trying to provoke them even further. I return to my previous spot as fast as I had left it.

I hear the sword being drawn with 5 seconds to spare. Upon looking at my opponents, I determine that their weapons consist of an Assault-Spear, a two-handed axe, and a Sword & Shield.

The timer reaches zero and the loud noise informs us that the match has begun.

Before the kids could move, I Activate my Sprint ability to increase my speed and move in a completely random pattern, trying both to confuse and provoke the group in order to force them into making a mistake. My strategy grows bolder as I start nearing the group and give off a few slashes and a few nicks all over their bodies, slowly reducing their HP bars.

My Sprint ability stops after around 30 seconds and I am forced to retreat and give a little distance between us.

I check my health and notice that I have taken a few hits of my own, although I was still well within the green zone, all three of my opponents were nearing the half-way mark.

The three kids take advantage of my reduced speed and of my hesitation to start running towards me in a straight line; each behind the other with the shield leading. I decide to keep my ground and see what their tactic is; I am curious as to see what kind of cohesion these guys have with each other, and their coordination is a vital piece in my counter-attack.

As soon as the shield-bearer is within reach, he attempts a shield-bash. Immediately afterwards, he strafes to the left and the axe-wielder activates a mid-level vertical slash and tries to chop me cleanly in half. Instantly after that, the spearman launches a series of pokes and stabs towards my torso.

Obviously, none of their attacks have hit me. My Acrobatics skill sure is useful when I let it fully take over my body and dodge everything with minimal effort. Although I have to say, that was a really good coordinated attack – it's really effective against single monsters. But it won't work on me.

I somersault backwards a few times to give myself some more distance. As soon as I set about 10 feet worth of distance between us, the three kids commence their attack – going for the exact same tactic as before.

I smirk as they charge full speed ahead. This is too easy.

I stab my sword into the ground and charge at the shield. Same as last time, as soon as we are within reach, the leader attempts another shield-bash – but this time, I grab onto the shield, and using his momentum, send the shield-bearer over my head and tumbling to the ground behind me. As he was in the air, I take his sword from his hip.

I step side just enough for the axe to barely miss me, digging itself into the stone road. The axe-wielder tries frantically to pull his weapon from the stone, but I had beaten him to the punch. I take this opportunity to fiercely kick the shaft with all my strength, shattering the axe into two pieces. I take the sword I had stolen from the shield-bearer and cleave it through the axe-wielder's back, leaving it embedded as he falls to the ground.

I had just enough time to avoid the spear as it stabs my way, the spearman launches off a long series of pokes, stabs, and slashes. With no weapon to block or parry the attacks, I am pretty much forced to dodge every one of his attacks with the use of my Acrobatics skill. The spearman, clearly not giving up, roars loudly as he starts flailing uncontrollably; giving me the perfect chance to take advantage and disarm him. Before the spear could hit the ground, I had caught it, performed a few spins, and stabbed it right through my enemy's heart. I dig the spear's other end into the ground and leave the spearman impaled in the middle of the road, his mouth gurgling as it fills with blood.

I turn back to the tumbled shield-bearer, who still hasn't gotten to his feet yet, and give him a massive kick to the side of his face – rewarding me with a loud and very satisfied "crunch" as I shattered his jaw and every bone in his neck. He stopped struggling instantly and slumped to the ground, almost lifelessly.

The game had announced the end of the duel and had declared me as the victor.

I walk over to my sword, pick it up and return it to the sheath on my back. I look back at the gruesome scene I had created and smile diabolically.

I pause for roughly 20 seconds before my smile disappears and I let out a loud sigh. I walk back to the group of kids that I had mercilessly defeated mere moments ago, pull the sword out of the guy's back and throw it beside him. Grab the Spearman's chest and yank the spear out of his heart, gently sitting him down. I then place a health crystal his shoulder and activate the healing, restoring his HP to full, and repairing all damage I had caused. I do the same for the other two.

The three kids moan in pain and sluggishly make their way closer to each other, staying seated on the road and leaning against each other for support.

I kneel down in front of the leader. "Do you know why you lost?" I ask him, loudly enough for the crowd (who hasn't left yet) to hear.

The kid shakes his head.

"It's because you got 'Her' involved," I tell him, lifting my thumb over my shoulder to point towards Kitiara, who is still near the doors to the inn. "You never, ever, get in between a man and his woman. You never threaten her in front of him, because he will sacrifice everything in order to save her." I finish.

I stand up and turn my back to the kids.

"It's a fundamental rule that we have, although you guys wouldn't know about it. You're all too young to start having to protect your girlfriends. Hell, you aren't even old enough to have girlfriends." I say with a laugh as I walk away from the middle of the street, leaving the make-shift combat arena, and leaving the entire crowd in expressionless shock.

.

The rest of the day was not nearly as eventful as the morning was. Quite frankly, it was just a typical afternoon for Kitiara and I.

In the two months since the Floor 1 boss, we held this 'weird' pattern where we would meet up for lunch, spend the afternoon together (mostly training, fighting monsters, or exploring dungeons). We would then share an inn room and go to sleep. In the morning we would go our separate ways; and then meet up again for lunch.

This cycle repeated itself almost on a daily basis. So like I had just said, our afternoon had remained the same as always, today we had spent about 4 hours exploring this Floor's dungeon.

We ate dinner in peace, and when the time came, we called it a night and went to our inn room.

Just like usual.

I woke up suddenly for no reason in the middle of the night and noticed that Kitiara wasn't in bed. Not particularly concerned for her safety, I let it slip and returned to sleep.

.

Two days later, sure enough, on the front page of MMO Today, was an article regarding my 1v3 duel in the middle of town.

What I didn't expect to find was that there was also an article concerning Kitiara on the next page. That night, she had snuck out around town to track those three kids to give them an ass-kicking of her own.

Rumours were saying that she had tracked them down from the smell of their blood, and chased them down like a ferocious hunting dog.

From that day forward, they started addressing her as: Kitiara _"The Bloodstalker"_.

""_The Angel of Death"_ and _"The Bloodstalker"_, huh?" I mutter out loud to myself as I set down the paper onto the table. "Sounds like a nasty piece of work."

"What sounds like a piece of work?" I hear Kitiara ask me behind my back.

"It appears as though there's a certain woman, who is now called _"The Bloodstalker"_ is less forgiving than _"The Angel of Death"_ could ever be. I personally thought I had given those kids enough of a beating" I tell her, trying to be as facetious as I can.

"They call me _"The Bloodstalker" _now? Oh well," she sighs. "It's a good thing red is one of my favorite colours. Plus it will be easy to paint my armour; all I need to do is kill a bunch of things." Kitiara places her hands on my shoulders and stands directly behind me.

I couldn't help but let out a loud laugh. "You're unbelievable" I sigh.

"Hey! Blood is an excellent source of protein and iron, two substances in which I currently lack in my diet."

I let out a few throaty chuckles. I couldn't help but find her quoting me to be actually pretty funny.

Without even thinking, I lean my head back to look up to Kitiara as my hand reaches around her neck and gently pulls her down to me.

I kiss her.

**A/N: Another cliffhanger guys, sorry... I understand if you didn't like that duel, It took me a long time to try to write it down, and rewrite it (over and over again) and after a while I just gave up trying to make it better - and that's what it gave me. **

**I will try to improve my fighting scene writing skills, hopefully I'll have something better by the next couple of chapters, and hopefully none of you are as disappointed as I am...**

**See you next time.**


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